Texas Spartanstemporary title
by Zigglerdude94
Summary: I am sent to a world to retrieve a new armor type, but when i get there, pretty much everything goes out the window.
1. Arrival

**The Eagle**

** "**_**He clasps the crag with crooked hands**_

_**Close to the sun in lonely lands,**_

_**Ringed with the world he stands.**_

_**The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;**_

_**He watches from mountain walls,**_

_**And like a thunderbolt he falls"**_

**Alfred Lord Tennyson**

Chapter 1

**Nov. 2, 2552 (military calendar)**

**Aboard _UNSC _Titan-class cruiser _Warhawk _**

"**Is he awake?"**

"**I'm bringing him out of cryo sleep right now sir". A voice said as I heard the chamber locks moving and unlocking. **

"**Alright, soldier, nap time's over. Come on out!" another voice said as I was getting out of the chamber. "Welcome aboard the _Warhawk_, the best damn Titan-class cruiser in the fleet. And I might add that it's the fastest and quietest ship out there right now. It's a prototype cruiser and the only one until the tech guys down on Earth give the go-ahead on mass production. You can get an in-depth look into the ship by talking to the crew. If you have any questions, just ask. Forgive me, where are my manners? I am Admiral Hawk, Captain of the Warhawk. I custom built and named this cruiser myself," the uniformed man stated. **

**He was telling me all this while we were walking up to the bridge from the cryo chambers. When we reached the bridge we could hear people hollering and screaming. We pulled our side arms out and got ready to bust down the door. Just before we kicked the door in, a lieutenant came running out and was nearly flattened like a pancake when he slammed into me. **

"**Admiral Hawk," stated the lieutenant as he saluted, "Sorry, sir. We were just having some fun watching the game and…" **

"**It's alright lieutenant, you'll just have to let me know next time a party of some sort will be going on so that I don't fill you with lead by accident" the admiral replied. **

"**Yes sir. I'm Lieutenant Sanders" he said as he was shaking my hand, "the navigator for the _Warhawk. _I'm sorry about running into you, soldier. I wasn't looking where I was going. I'll be more careful next time. And if you don't mind me asking, why are you partially transparent?" **

"**It's alright and I'm Gunnery Sergeant 'Mako', sometimes called the 'Golden Spartan' and I'm here to accompany you guys to Chi Cheti 4 which concerns my mission. As for why I'm transparent? I'm in my MJOLNIR Mk VI armor. I'm never out of it unless I have to be, including my personal hygiene, of course." **

"**Ah, I see. Well, I'll be getting back to my station now. Excuse me," Sanders said as he was turning around to walk off. "If you wouldn't mind, Mako, can you run down to the hangar bay and tell the Pelican's to get ready and hand these files out to the squad leaders. You might want to do it secretly because I don't want any of the Marines getting over cocky knowing that we've got a Spartan on board." **

"**Of course sir, I'll go down right now and I just might have a way to stay silent," I replied. **

**As I headed down to the hangar bay to hand off the files to the pilots and squad leaders, a group of Marines came running down the hallway. To avoid them and not be seen, I went into active camouflage. The Marines stopped dead in their tracks because they knew something was there but wasn't sure what it was. Once those Marines stopped, their eyes became as wide as basketballs. So I said to myself, Mako you just put yourself into a very good position, you can scare the crap out of these guys with little effort. So I proceeded to set up some sort of scary creature and once I had that set, I jumped out of my little hiding spot. While projecting the creature I chose, I scared the stuffing out of those 'big' Marines and they took flight like nobody's business. After that little ordeal was over I resumed my trek to the hangar bay. Once I reached the hangar I moved into the shadows to cross the bay. **

**I saw the squad leaders and pilots in a group, so I made a whistling noise and threw the files to them. They caught them and kept on scratching their heads because they couldn't figure out where they had come from. After I dropped off the mission files, I headed back up to the bridge. I arrived just in time to hear Lt. Sanders say to Admiral Hawk, "Sir we're coming out of Slipspace in 5..4..3..2..1…entering normal space… now." **

"**Good timing Mako, we've just entered normal space. Are the birds ready?" Admiral Hawk asked. **

"**Yes sir they are. Should I get ready?" I replied.**

"**Yes. I'm sending you on the first bird in. You'll receive updates once you're on the ground."**

"**Yes, sir. I'm going to need a moment to get ready then I'll be good to go."**

"**Attention all personnel, prepare for ground assault. Mission updates will be given to your squad leaders. Helljumpers, get to your pods. Marines grab a rifle and ammo, then jump in a Pelican and get set for combat."**

**When the announcement was made, I was in my quarters grabbing an MA5B Assault Rifle along with a few grenades, my M6 pistol and my BR55 Battle Rifle; and of course, extra ammo. After grabbing my supplies, I headed to the hangar. I arrived just in time for a personal message from Admiral Hawk telling me if I didn't get on that bird within thirty seconds, I'd be sucked into space. I jumped into the Pelican right as the door was closing. Luckily no one saw me get on, but the pilot knew from the sound of footsteps. **

"**Echo 319, releasing locks in 4…3…2…1…" the chief engineer announced. **

"**Hang on to something back there Spartan, it's going to be a straight drop for most of the way," War Hammer said to me as I was getting strapped into a seat. War Hammer is Echo 319's call sign. So with that we plunged into the dead of space where no sound is heard, no engine rumblings not even the sound of your beating heart. **


	2. First Contact

**Chapter 2**

**Nov. 2, 2552 (military calendar)**

** Aboard Echo 319's Pelican drop ship**

"**Come on kids get a move on! We don't have all day!" that was what we heard most of the day during our training. Over 400 of us, only 300 would make the cut. Even then, some might not make it due to some problem that the drill instructors didn't like with one of us. But the good thing is that all 497 of us qualified. We were told that the UNSC needed as many Spartans as possible, so they went ahead and gave us all our insignias. Now going through the training with 496 other boys and girls, and training with them for so long, they become like brothers and sisters to you, ya know? **

"**Alright Mako, we're five minutes from the landing zone. We've already breached the atmosphere and have separated from the other birds. I suggest you get prepped and be ready to jump, 'cuz I'm going to fly right over the LZ at 1500 feet altitude." **

"**Thanks for the heads up." I replied. I got my weapons secured in their holsters and got ready to jump. The hatch opened and I slowly made my way to the edge waiting for the signal from War Hammer.**

"**Ok Mako we are forty-five seconds from the drop zone, I will give the green light when to jump ok?" War Hammer asked. "Alright I'm ready to go!" I replied. Just as War Hammer was about to give the green light she yelled something about some bad turbulence. I didn't catch it because once we hit that pocket of air, it shook the Pelican hard enough that I got sucked out the back when I got bounced around so much that I lost my grip.**

"**When you're falling out of a bird and spinning out of control, remember that in thirty seconds your heart will have pumped enough blood in and out to fill a watering hole. So, in order to keep that from happening, spread your arms out slowly, make sure you end up facing the ground." That's what Chief Richards taught us in flight class. Just then my training kicked in and I did what I was taught. I spread my arms out slowly and looked at the ground. By then I was already less than a 1,000 feet from ground level. I ejected my parachute at roughly 730 feet in the air. **

**"Come in Mako, come in!" War Hammer exclaimed. **

**"I'm here War Hammer. How are you and what happened?" I asked.**

"**Well apparently we hit a very big pocket of air and somehow you fell out. Did you not hear me say that there was going to be some rough turbulence ahead?"**

"**No, you must've said that when the Pelican got jostled around after hitting that air pocket. I held on as best I could but I slipped somehow and got sucked out." Now it's not like War Hammer lost control or anything. When that air pocket was ruptured, the bird bounced like it was on a Texas dirt road that hasn't been grated yet. **

"**Ok well the others have touched down and are unloading their chalk. The Admiral is wanting you to contact him as soon as you've got your boots on the ground."**

"**Alright, will do," I replied while getting up. Although I ejected my parachute, it opened up just enough to slow me down but not enough to fully deploy, so therefore I ended up rocketing towards the ground.**

"**Cruiser one this is Golden Spartan, come in Cruiser one." Nothing, just static. I checked my comm system and it was in good shape; nothing was wrong with it other than a few scratches from the impact. I headed off in the direction of the facility I needed to check up on. I ended up on a hill so I decided to try the admiral again. "Golden Spartan to Cruiser One, come in Cruiser One"**

"—**olden Spartan. What happened? Eco 319 gave us a rundown but we only got-nd pieces. The Cov- must have a scrambler nearby take it o-I repeat, take out that scrambler, first priority, then proceed with mission as planned." That's all I was able to receive since I couldn't send any messages until the scrambler was taken care of. I pulled out my battle rifle and just before I took a step towards the manufacturing plant, I heard some footsteps behind me. So I turned and leveled my rifle to the spot where the sound came from. Just before I fired a burst, the figure came out of the shadows and held up a hand for me not to fire. "Who are you?" I asked. **

"**Follow me then I'll tell you," he replied. So I followed this person to a small sort of cave-like tunnel. **

**Once inside, I asked again, "Who are you?" **

"**I go by Eleanor 73. I was sent here about a week ago to watch over the manufacturing plant's workers since there had been reports of some Covenant activity in the region."**

"**Hey man it's really good to see you! How long has it been?"**

"**About three months"**

"**Sheesh, I didn't think it was that long ago that everybody saw each other. How many are left that are combat able?" I asked. **

"**Not very many of us are left that can survive a combat encounter of any scale. Only about 249 of us can fight, the rest are wounded and doing what they can 'behind the scenes' I guess you could say," Eleanor replied. As we exchanged a few stories, we heard several explosions off in the distance. We grabbed our guns and took off in the direction of the explosion. Once there, we found a squad of Marines pinned by several Grunts and Elites with Needlers, Plasma rifles and one Shade Turret. I signaled Eleanor to check on the Marines and provide a distraction for me so that I could take out the turret. **

"**Are you guys alright?"**

"**Yes sir. We lost a couple of guys with our SPNKR's and a few with plasma burns but overall we're ok, we've just been pinned by that Shade Turret."**

"**Alright stay here I need to create a distraction."**

"**You got it Spartan." Eleanor moved to the right flank where the turret wasn't looking. He fired a burst from his Battle Rifle and caught the gunner in the arm but didn't kill him, just enough to get his attention. While the turret and Eleanor were exchanging fire, I made my way around to the unguarded left flank of the Covenant group. Once I was in a good firing position I chunked a grenade over the wall of concrete that was partially protecting their left flank. Just my luck, the grenade landed right under that turret. When it blew, it was like a nuke went off, just without a huge mushroom cloud and extremely high winds. Those Covenant turrets float off the base about 3-4 inches, which was just enough room for the grenade to get underneath it. Metal splinters, blood and body parts came raining down all over the place. All that was left was a single Covenant Elite still in shock from the blast. **

"**Eleanor get in there and take him out before he realizes what happened!" I exclaimed. **

"**Got it, Mako," he replied. Eleanor ran straight towards the Elite and jammed the end of the rifle into its mouth and squeezed the trigger twice. Bits of armor and chunks of the skull came flying out the backside of the Elites' head. **

"**Nice one, Eleanor."**

"**Thank you, now let's go check on those Marines," Eleanor replied.**

** We went and checked on the Marines and found out what happened. Their bird touched down and dropped them off at the correct landing zone, then they headed north to a mining camp that was reported to have found something of value that could turn the tide of the war. Just before the soldiers got to the camp, they were met with plasma fire from the group of Covenant soldiers we just finished off. The two explosions were from the SPNKR rocket launchers firing at the turret, one hit nearby and knocked the gunner out of his seat while the other rocket hit an unstable pillar that fell in front of the Elites and Grunts to provide them with cover. The Master Sergeant told us that if the second rocket hadn't hit that pillar, then the Covenant wouldn't have had any cover whatsoever. Eleanor and I headed to the spot where the communications scrambler was located, near the base of Mt. Saraki.**

** "I can see the scrambler from here, Mako. Looks like it's covered with troops and a Wraith," Eleanor told me. I was watching our six when he gave the observation. **

"**Alright, we'll try and hit that Wraith first then move on to the commanding Elites. Sound like a good plan to you?" I asked. **

"**Yeah let's do that. Got any explosives of some sort?"**

"**Yeah, a few 'nades, a couple of Locust anti-tank mines and a nuclear warhead in case things get REALLY bad. That's all that I've got, what about you?"**

"**I've got a secret stash of explosives nearby that I hid when I arrived. We'll have to hit it quick if we want to catch those Covenant crack heads off guard."**

"**Alright let's go now," I replied. We went to where Eleanor hid the explosives and grabbed a few extra mortar rounds, some assorted small explosives and a couple of C4 to attach to the tank in case we can't commandeer it. This was our plan of attack: we sneak around to the backside of the encampment and kill the rear guards, if there's any at all. Then we would try and hijack the Wraith if it's possible, if not then we would plant one C4 in the drivers seat and one on the back of the tank. If we could commandeer the Wraith, we'd do as much damage against them with it, then either ditch the Wraith or see if a Pelican would come pick it up. **

**All went according to plan up until we got to the Wraith. Somehow, someway a grunt just happened to appear out of nowhere and started screaming, which got everybody's attention. "Crud, should we try to use the tank or blow it up?"**

"**If we can't use it, then we'll go ahead and use it like a car-bomb and run it into that armory looking tent over there"**

"**Alright let me see if I can drive this thing," Eleanor replied. Just when the hatch opened for Eleanor to get in, a big huge green ball came flying towards him. Eleanor jumped out of the way as the ball singed his armor's shields. The green ball was actually a plasma rocket from a weapon called the Fuel Rod Cannon. It is basically the same as a human rocket launcher, such as the SPNKR (pronounced 'spanker'), but it fires a plasma rocket instead.**

"**Ok let's just use this thing as a car-bomb. And will you take out that RL for me?"**

"**Already on it, Eleanor," I replied. I leveled my Battle Rifle at the head of the grunt holding the Fuel Rod Cannon and squeezed the trigger once; all three bullets of the burst fire hit dead center of the Grunts' head. I had Eleanor attach the C4 to the Wraith's driver seat and the part that looked like an engine. **

"**Alright I'm all set here, how long should I set the charges for?" Eleanor asked. **

"**Fifteen seconds, that's all the time we will be able to have after arming the charges! So once those things are set be sure to run like heck to our hiding spot!" I replied. I had to yell since the gunshots had gotten so loud.**

"**Ok charges are set! Let's get the heck outta dodge!"**

"**You don't have to tell me twice!" I replied. We set the charges and sprinted from the back of the Wraith all the way to where we were first on the hill. **

**"Get down!"**

**_Hey guys, how are yall likin' the story? I know some of it may seem corny or weird but this is just a rough draft. I have 8 chapters completed and working on the 9th. Also, does anybody have a good idea for the title? If so, then shoot me a message and I'll consider you!_**

**Sincerely,**

** Zigglerdude  
**


	3. Rescue

Chapter 3

Nov. 2, 2552 (military calendar)

Near base of Mt. Saraki

"Get down!" I exclaimed. We had gotten to the hill just in time to escape the blast from the explosives we set. We put the gear into drive on that Wraith and directed it towards a munitions looking tent that was set up. What we hadn't expected was it to be a REAL munitions tent. That Wraith flew straight into the tent and must have hit a bomb or something because it blew both Eleanor and I off our feet. Plus the blast was big enough that it took out the scrambler 300 meters away. "Golden Spartan? Are you there Golden Spartan?" Cruiser One asked.

"If you want to effectively survive an explosive blast from like a grenade, C4 or anything of that measure, make sure you don't go into shock as best you can. If you happen to take out a munitions dump of any sort, you'd better hope that there's someone else there to help wake you up because the consequences can be deadly." This is what all the Spartans heard on the 10th day of explosives training. "Come on, get up! Mako we've got to get on the move before anymore Covenant show up! WAKE UP!"

"Wha-what happened?" I asked while sitting up.

"Apparently that tent must have been filled with more than a few grenades or ammunition. It might have had a bomb of some sort inside so once that Wraith hit the tent and the C4 went off, it was like a fireworks show."

"Hm. Let's get back to your ammo stash and link up with Cruiser One then we'll make our way to the manufacturing plant. Sound good?"

"Yeah, let's do that," Eleanor replied. I had to limp back to the cave because when I got blown into the air, I fell at an awkward angle and somehow pulled a muscle in my lower leg. We got to the cave and I had Eleanor set up a comm link with Cruiser One. "Cruiser One this is Golden Spartan, the scrambler has been taken care of."

"Roger that Golden Spartan. What's your next move?"

"Well we are going to stay put for the night and wait 'til dawn for our move on the plant"

"Say again Golden Spartan, 'we'? Is there a Marine with you or something?"

"No, Eleanor 73 was sent here a week ago for something else. I'll get him to send you his mission file. Over and out," I replied. Eleanor then sent his mission file to Cruiser One. After he did that we lit a fire, away from the ammo of course, and ate our M.R.E.s then got some shuteye. At dawn we packed all the extra ammo up and made our way west. We reached the western edge of the plant's perimeter and went prone. "See anything?"

"Not at the northern edge. Nothing at the southern edge and I'm not too sure about the eastern side. What should we do?"

"I think we should make a break for the door. On my mark."

"Got it."

"Mark," I replied. We jumped up and sprinted straight for the door, only to find that it was barred shut from the inside. "Looks like we have to go around the back or something," Eleanor said. We slowly made our way around to the back of the building. The door that we tried had been on the west side of the building. As we're making our way around we came across an open cargo door. Quietly we made our way in and towards the main office part of the plant. "I don't like this Mako, something doesn't feel right"

"I agree, let's take it slow until we know what exactly is going on," I replied. While heading down a hallway we could hear some kind of rumbling, like a motor or something. Just before we could check it out, a section of the wall came busting out right in front of us. Whatever the thing was that went through the wall, it didn't stop long enough to notice us so we continued our trek to the main office. Once at the office there were sounds of what appeared to be people screaming to let them out. Around the corner into the conference room, a blue plasma shield blocked the way and you could see people getting tortured, being poked and prodded like a test tube and a bunch of other weird experiments being conducted. "What's the count of enemy forces?" I asked. I had brought up the rear just in case someone tried to sneak up on us.

"About eight Elites and a score or two of Grunts"

"Ok…can you get a camera in there?"

"Only through the ceiling and that's going to be very tricky Mako," Eleanor replied. We backtracked to an adjacent hallway connecting the maintenance and boiler rooms. After reaching the maintenance room, we climbed up into the shaft above a generator and made our way towards the office once more. Upon arriving at the office again, we noticed that the Covenant had an unusually large amount of black spike-looking things in a pile along with a constant beeping noise; we guessed it was a bomb that could flatten this facility. Eleanor got a camera down a small hole and discovered that half the Grunts had left and there were only a couple of Elites inside the room now. Unsure of what to make of this difference in numbers, Eleanor and I decided to drop a couple of frags then jump down and finish off whatever non-human thing was still standing. "On three, then drop the two frags, afterwards jump down and finish off what's left of 'em. Ok?"

"Got it," I replied. Eleanor primed the two fragmentation grenades and dropped them down the hole we made. A couple of dull thuds were heard ten seconds later. We dropped through the hole and leveled our rifles then swept around the room to make sure no Covenant soldier was standing. The black spikes had been protected by a small plasma shield. Afterwards we checked on the plant workers to see how they were holding up. "I'm Mako and this is Eleanor 73, we were sent here to find out what happened to the plant. What can you tell us about the attack?" I asked.

"We were and are currently working on a prototype armor system when the Covenant showed up. The Marine outpost to the east of us sent an urgent message to either backup or purge all systems because they detected a few Covenant ships coming into orbit. We decided to back-up all systems and got that done when a squad of Marines showed up and told us that if we didn't leave this instant, we're screwed."

"Wait you said there was an outpost nearby? How far?"

"Oh, I'd say a few kilometers from here. Probably two or three."

"Alright thanks. Eleanor and I will get you off this planet then we'll head to the outpost to see if there's any survivors," I replied. I called in for extraction and told Echo 319 to meet us in the grove of trees outside the plant. The scientists and the group of Marines from the outpost boarded the Pelican and headed back to the Warhawk.

"The outpost goes by Tunnel Rat."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because when this world was discovered, some soldiers had to go under ground to find a solid foundation for the place and one decided to call it that in remembrance of the actual Tunnel Rats during the Vietnam War."

"Ah, I see," I answered. Afterwards we took off in the direction of the outpost to see if there were any survivors.


	4. Tunnel Rat

**Chapter 4**

**Nov. 3, 2552 (military calendar)**

** 1.5 kilometers from outpost Tunnel Rat**

One of the most eerie silences fell over the landscape. Quiet enough that not even the wind was blowing, no birds chirping not even those annoying crickets. Eleanor and I had reached an area of the planet where there wasn't a single sign of green vegetation anywhere. Black. All of it was black. Several blackened lumps could be seen scattered around the area, but nothing else. We headed to where a group of the lumps were to see what happened. "They're bodies. This entire group is nothing but Covenant Elites."

"**It looks like plasma burns to me, because there's no way a fire could do this much damage to the body," I replied. It was strange, did the Covenant kill some of their own or were they chasing some Marines and just got caught in the crossfire? "I don't like this Mako, something's not right here. Should we keep moving?"**

"**First let's report this to the admiral, then we'll get out of here," I answered. I contacted the Warhawk but when asked about the charred remains of Covenant soldiers, the admiral said that they had been on the other side of the planet because Lt. Sanders detected a very unusual and quite large object heading over the top of the planet. "You hear that? We need to move. Now!"**

"**I agree. Head towards that downed Phantom and act like your dead, maybe that'll fool whoever's coming to us," I said while running to the Phantom. Arriving at the Phantom, we found a couple of spots to make it look like we got caught in the wreckage, but we still had a clear line of sight away from the drop ship. In the distance we saw the outlines of three Warthogs and a Covenant Ghost. "If those are Marines driving those Warthogs and that Ghost, before we move I wanna scare 'em."**

"**Got it Mako," Eleanor replied. The Marines made their way to the Phantom and checked for any survivors plus ammo. "Hey guys! Come look at this," a Marine said as he got out of the Warthog. "Man, Spartans. How did they end up in the crash?"**

"**I don't know man. But I don't think that they're still alive," the Marine replied. **

"**BOO!" I yelled as I jumped up. I scared that soldier so bad that he nearly peed his pants. "Man that was good," I said while trying to control my laughter. **

"**We thought that you two were dead. You'd better come with us, we could use the help. I'm Staff Sergeant Adam Yamakoti. We were stationed at Tunnel Rat when the Covenant showed up," Adam replied. **

"**I'm sorry I scared you, it doesn't hurt to be optimistic at times"**

"**Here here," Adam agreed. **

**We hopped into the Warthog and sped towards Camp Wolverine. The Staff Sergeant briefed us that whenever the Covenant ships showed up on radar, the whole planet was put on full alert. We arrived at a small alcove where around seventy-five other troops were at the moment. We've been waiting for reinforcements to help retake the outpost. There was almost a 1,000 of us that escaped but the Covenant cut us off and we lost all but what you see here"**

"**I'm sorry that we didn't get here earlier"**

"**It's ok, that was about a week and a half ago," Adam replied. We dismounted and headed to the commander's tent. "Captain Reynolds? There's some one here to see you."**

"**Send them in, Adam," the captain replied. **

"**Captain Reynolds? I'm Mako and this is Eleanor 73," I said while saluting the captain. "Good day, Spartans. It's about time the UNSC sent some back up."**

"**Why's that sir? I was told that the Covenant had only been here for about two weeks, if not three at the most."**

"**The Covenant has actually been here about a month. They must have had a scout party here before our scanners got upgraded," the Captain replied. **

**Captain Reynolds told us that we needed to stock up on ammo and go see if we can sneak into the base and rescue the Marines still trapped inside. We went to a secluded spot and set up a communications link with the admiral. "Cruiser One? This is Golden Spartan. We are headed towards Tunnel Rat to rescue some Marines. Over."**

"**Roger that Golden Spartan. Give us an update once you're clear of the outpost. Out," Cruiser One replied. Eleanor and I scouted the southeastern side of the outpost and saw that pretty much the entire wall was completely decimated from planetary bombardment and rocket explosions. We made our way to one of the garages and got inside through the half opened door. **

"**OK Eleanor, let's split up. I'll go check the comm room, and you go check the barracks. Sound good?"**

"**Yeah, that sounds good to me," Eleanor replied. I took off in the direction of the communications room to see if anyone was still alive and to get a message out to any surviving Marines to regroup at the Captain's base of operations. **

"**Mako, I've got some bodies here, more Covenant than human. Looks like the Marines at this base really gave it to them." **

"**Alright, I'm still on my way to the comm room. Radio silence for the next 20 minutes."**

"**Got it," Eleanor replied.**

**I finally reached the hallway leading to the comm room. I saw bodies lining the entire length of the hallway. There were more Elite and Grunt bodies than Marines. I approached the door without making a sound and punched in a code to open it. It opened as I went into active camouflage. I stepped through the door only to be met with rifle fire. I dove to my left behind a row of server nodes. "What in the world was that?"**

"**I don't know, but whatever it was it's gone."**

"**Let's hope so," a Marine said. I told Eleanor to get down here and back me up in case these Marines are under supervision by a squad of Elites or something. Eleanor showed up and went active camouflage. He went to his left flank while I came up the right flank. We unveiled ourselves at the same time and had the Marines caught in a tight circle. "FREEZE!" I yelled while making the Marines think that I appeared out of thin air. Eleanor did the same thing but he had his gun pointed towards one of the Marines' head. The soldiers lowered their weapons but didn't drop them. "You guys part of Captain Reynolds detachment?" I asked.**

"**Yes sir. We boarded up the comm room in case the Covenant came back. We've been trying to send out a distress signal, but nothing can get through that comm node that the Elites set up."**

"**There's nothing left of that jammer. I took care of it personally."**

"**Oh. But before we leave, the system needs to be purged. There's also another group of Marines in the armory. We've been in contact ever since the beginning of the attack, but for the past five minutes we haven't heard anything. I'm guessing that somebody cut the wire"**

"**Alright, how long will it take to purge all systems?" I asked. **

"**When I say 'purge', I mean that this communications room will go off like a nuclear warhead. If the Covenant is watching their radar, it will show up like a giant flare. So you will have two minutes to get those other guys out of the base because the armory is within range of the blast."**

"Alright, go ahead and start the purging system and follow Eleanor. I'll go after the Marines and see if I can't get them out before the thing blows up," I replied. Gunnery Sergeant Anderson was the one I had been talking to. After the purging system was started, he and the other Marines went with Eleanor to the Captain's campsite. I was less than two yards away from the armory when I heard gunshots erupting from inside the building. I double-timed it towards the main door to find it half open and riddled with plasma burns and bullet holes. "Is anyone alive in there?" I asked. I could hear some shuffling of feet but no answer. "Come on out Marines, I'm Gunnery Sergeant Mako. It's safe for about another minute."

"**OK. We're coming out just don't shoot," a soldier replied while walking out. "I'm Private First Class Jacobs. We holed up here because we were pushed back. So what's going to happen in a minute?"**

"**Come with me. I'll explain on the way," I replied. We had gotten about a mile and a half from the outpost when the communications room and armory exploded. "Everybody DOWN!" I exclaimed. All of us hit the deck as debris and shrapnel came flying above over our heads. Now we weren't two steps from the blast or anything, it's just that the armory must've had some HE warheads that went off. Finally, after arriving at the camp, a rumbling sound could be heard roughly 600 yards off to the west. "Where's the Captain?" I inquired.**

"**He's over by the downed Phantom you guys came across before you got here."**

"**OK thanks," I answered. **

"**RUN FOR COVER!"**


	5. Incoming

**Chapter 5**

**Nov. 4, 2552 (military calendar)**

** 2 miles outside Outpost Tunnel Rat**

**We were inquiring the captain's whereabouts when a couple of Phantom drop ships could be heard roughly 600 yards off to the west of our position. "Hey!" I shouted to a Marine by the munitions tent, "What kind of anti-aircraft weaponry do we have?"**

"**Not much sir. Just a couple of SPNKR's with maybe eight rockets total, one Stinger and 5 chain guns"**

"**Ok that'll have to do. I want you to set up those rocket launchers together and aiming at the engines of the drop ships, have them coordinate their shots to hit the same spot. Let my friend and I take two of the chain guns while the other three need to be in a secluded spot to ambush the Covenant," I ordered. The Phantoms were only 295 yards from us now. We just barely got everything ready when the Phantoms stopped at our ambush position and dropped off their chalk. "Wait until my mark…MARK!" I ordered just as the first guy was on his way to the ground. Two smoke trails streaked towards one Phantom's engine while two more smoke trails spiraled to the second one. There were two blinding blue lights as the missiles penetrated then ruptured the engines core. "Eleanor take a squad and check out the other side, I'll get this one"**

"**Roger that," he replied. I told a squad of Marines to come with me so that we could check out the wreckage. "Ok everyone, be on the look-out for any survivors. If they're alive but can't move, put them out of their misery. The rest of you Marines keep an eye on our back, just incase they try something," I ordered. While searching the wreckage, the only things that were amongst it are TONS of blood, puddles of boiling plasma and a few scattered weapons and body parts. I had my men police the weapons while I met up with Eleanor. "What did you find?"**

"**Nothing but blood, guts and more blood. That's about it Mako"**

"**Ok then, get a couple of tech guys over to see if they can't get any kind of information from the Phantom's computer," I replied. I called for Staff Sergeant Adam Yamakoti and asked him if we had any sort of crane or other heavy lifting machine to move the wreckage around. He told me that I would have to ask the captain about that since he wasn't sure. Upon asking about the heavy lifters, Captain Reynolds returned with his detachment. "What in the blazes happened?"**

"**Sir while you were gone two Phantom drop ships showed up. We successfully held them off, as you can see," I replied. The captain wanted to know how many men were lost and I told him that not a single Marine was injured in any form or fashion. "Sir, do we have any kind of heavy lifting equipment, such as a crane or dozer of some sort?"**

"**Yes we do. I believe that we have one crane, two dozers and a truck to transport the crane. Why do you want them?"**

"**Well what I was thinking was that we could move these pieces of the Phantom's around to create some sort of barrier or building like structure"**

"**Ok that sounds like a good idea. Speak with Private Phoenix on the whereabouts of the equipment; he'll know where to look. Once you learn the location of your necessities, take squads Alpha and Zulu with you"**

"**Thank you Captain Reynolds," I replied. I searched for Private Phoenix and found him by one of the guard posts staying on lookout. He told me that the materials that I sought were at an underground facility roughly 20 miles from here. We checked the location on a map and saw that the entrance was inside of a waterfall presiding in a valley. I told Eleanor to fetch Alpha and Zulu while I contacted Cruiser One. "Cruiser One this is Golden Spartan, come in Cruiser One"**

"**Acknowledged Golden Spartan, go ahead"**

"**Thanks. We have successfully liberated Tunnel Rats' Marines and have regrouped back at Camp Wolverine. Our destination now is an underground facility that is supposed to have some construction equipment"**

"**Construction equipment? What do you need with that?"**

"**We fended off two Phantom drop ships and the wreckage is going to be used to build something. We just don't know what yet"**

"**Ok Spartan. Is there anything else?"**

"**Actually there is, I was hoping you could lend a few Pelicans for transport admiral"**

"**Alright, I'll give you three birds to utilize. Give me 15 minutes to get to your area, and then I'll send 'em in"**

"**Ok thanks. I'll report to you once we've reached the facility. Golden Spartan out," I replied just as Eleanor and the squads showed up. "Ok guys here's the lowdown, there's an entrance to an underground facility inside a waterfall presiding in a valley. I've got three Pelicans on their way to transport us. We'll probably be taking one Warthog and the Ghost. Once we've gained entry to the facility I'll explain more. There's only about five more minutes before they get here, so go grab your gear and meet back here in four," I said. I opened up a comm channel with Warhammer and told her where we were. Just as the Marines finished gathering their gear the Pelicans landed. We loaded up and started off in the direction of the facility codenamed 'Hurricane', while not knowing what was in store for us once we reached Hurricane.**


End file.
